Friday, October 15, 2010

One; in my last post, I mused aloud why the attorney generals in all fifty states had to look into the foreclosure mess (where banks were issuing foreclosures through automated processes, leading to foreclosures based on incorrect information -- basically "accidentally" throwing people onto the street for no reason) rather than the national Attorney General.

My father noted that housing remains a state issue, and the abuses were in state courts, so the investigation would need to be in the state domain. I still hold, however, that the national decision of the big banks (BofA, Wells Fargo, and others) was a national fraud issue, and that the national attorney general should be involved. I am not a lawyer, however -- it may be that there's no way to make the charges stick, federally.

Two; if you're wondering exactly what the crux of this big deal is, and why it's getting a lot more severe action than, say, all of the other shit that has happened, I think this quote sums it up:

“When Stephan [the mortgage enforcer] says in an affidavit that he has personal knowledge of the facts stated in his affidavits, he doesn’t. When he says that he has custody and control of the loan documents, he doesn’t. When he says that he is attaching ‘a true and accurate’ copy of a note or a mortgage, he has no idea if that is so, because he does not look at the exhibits. When he makes any other statement of fact, he has no idea if it is true. When the notary says that Stephan appeared before him or her, he didn’t.”